Activists settling in at Awenda

By SARA ROSS, The Packet & Times May 23 2012 

A First Nation solidarity camp — which moved from Coldwater to Awenda Provincial Park early this month — isn’t interfering with park operations, says Ken Lacroix, zone manager for the Ministry of Natural Resources’ (MNR) central Ontario branch.

“From a parks perspective, the presence of this group does not impact the operation of the park for the campers’ use and the enjoyment of the facilities at the park,” Lacroix said Wednesday.

For almost a month, three Anishinabe men had set up a small camp on the Coldwater Canadiana Heritage Museum grounds. On the museum’s request, they left May 1.

The camp, which they call Oshkimaadziig, is a demonstration of their disapproval of the Coldwater-Narrows land claim settlement offer. They are also working to draw attention to their fading traditional practices.

They have been at Awenda since May 3 and have set up on the southwestern part of the park between an unopened road allowance and the park boundary, Lacroix said.

“They’re not in plain view of the public, although they do have a flag set up at one of the intersections,” he said.

The camp is located near a large boulder, known as Council Rock.

“They have a connection to that boulder,” Lacroix said.

Council Rock has been a sacred gathering place for generations, Kai Kai Kons, one of the activists, said.

There is an engraving on the boulder dated May 11, 1795.

“…There are five gathering places that our interwoven in (First Nation) agreements where we know to come to gather and have our traditional council,” Kai Kai Kons said. “Council Rock is one of those five places.”

Another is the ancient fishing weirs at the Atherley Narrows between Lakes Couchiching and Simcoe.

Awenda is open year-round, but camping began May 11.

“We have not received any reaction from the campers,” Lacroix said. “We’ve had a few questions from campers and we’ve answered those questions.”

Management at Awenda has been communicating with the activists once a week.

“Right now, we have great communications going with them,” Lacroix said. “They want us to keep in contact with them, so things are OK for now.”

When park superintendent Mike Armstrong first encountered the group, he told them they were trespassing, Kai Kai Kons said.

“I educated him on our rights of utilizing Crown lands. Crown lands are our lands,” he said.

The encampment has copies of an 1811 agreement between the British Crown and First Nations backing that up.

“We have every legal (right) to be here,” Kai Kai Kons said. “(Armstrong) was trying to tell us we were only allowed to be there for a certain time and that’s not true.”

The next meeting was with an OPP liaison team.

“They came, basically, at the request of the parks manager and they said they were maintaining the peace,” Memeskwaniniisi, another activist, said.

During the third meeting, Armstrong and the OPP liaison team came to the camp together, he said.

“They had said we had barricaded their administration office gates and that we had posted all our posters on their gates,” Memeskwaniniisi said. “We didn’t. We were building a lodge.”

The group spent several days constructing a teaching lodge on the site.

“It’s a structure that’s built to house people and teach our spiritual teaching,” Kai Kai Kons said.

The lodge is roughly 10 metres by three metres and is made from maple saplings and tarps.

At a meeting May 18, Armstrong and an MNR representative came to reconcile, Memeskwaniniisi said.

“Their exact words were they had come to reconcile,” he said. “I think they know they’re in the wrong to tell us we’re trespassing.”

When asked if the activists were told to leave the park, Lacroix responded, “We’re in positive communications with them right now. We have a really good relationship.”

He added the group has been “co-operative.”

“We’re moving forward in terms of determining what their needs and wants are,” Lacroix said.

Information gleaned from those meetings is being sent to senior managers at the MNR.

“That’s just a process we’re going through so everybody’s informed,” Lacroix said.

On Monday, Batchewana First Nation Chief Dean Sayers went to the camp to show his support, Memeskwaniniisi said.

“He says there are more people who should be doing this,” he said.

Sayers sat with Prince Charles in Toronto Tuesday during the Royal Visit. He was representing the 21 First Nations that are signatories to the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850.

“He went to talk about nation-to-nation treaties because Canada’s not honouring theirs,” Memeskwaniniisi said.

Recently, the activists have been leaving camp and travelling to different First Nations groups around the Great Lakes.

“We’ve just been out communicating and gathering our people, spreading that message,” Kai Kai Kons said.

They are planning a music event at Awenda in mid-July to “bring the people together,” he said.